| Abstract: | Radiocarbon dating is, and remains, one of the most powerful methods of dating archaeological artefacts. Initially, it was assumed that the carbon-14 content of atmospheric carbon dioxide had remained constant, but latterly it has been shown that this assumption is not valid. It has now proved possible, mainly by correlation with tree-growth rings, to measure historic fluctuations in carbon-14 content and to make the necessary corrections—of up to one thousand years—to the conventionally calculated dates. |
